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The trouble with Sanusi and Awosika-Coker by
Over the years I have read a lot of write – ups by Nigerians on several issues and to my great dismay I find it quite sad how shallow and narrow minded a lot of these writers are, sometimes even some elements of the press baffle me with certain views they express. Currently a lot of emphasis is being placed on the comedy that is now taking place in the name of "Justice Oputa Panel", with all due respect what is the aim of this panel and what have we learnt from this exercise. We have heard from people who at some point in time were at the helm of our affairs doing their best to abdicate responsibility of their actions or inaction’s. People like Diya and Adisa are requesting their property which was confiscated from them back. Knowing fully well the wages of the average Nigerian General, how did these people acquire such wealth? This is the question we should be asking rather than paying unnecessary attention to the fact that these Generals were weeping or not weeping before certain individuals. Nigerians still in this day and age seem to be suffering from amnesia as we always make the same old mistake of making today’s villains the heroes of tomorrow. That is why we have people like IBB organising a conference in Jos, Umaru Dikko assuming he has political relevance or Ojukwu still openly fighting for political office. It seems we are quite ready to forget the evil of yesteryears and continue making the same old mistakes. Hence the political class continue in their old ways of corruption and kleptomania with complete disregard for the consequences of their actions. Take the case of Chuba Okadigbo, if these allegations were true the man should be behind bars but only in Nigeria would you see this turn into a circus with some eminent Nigerian attributing tribal slants to his problems. A crime is a crime whether it is committed by an Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba man. It is so sad that in this country we still seem to have this archaic attitude of saying that, if my crime is less than the next man’s so it is of no consequence or the man from the other tribe has done worse. Now all we hear in the press is how evil Abacha was, if this was the case then how can we have people who served as Minister’s under him still in Obasanjo’s regime. The current President promised to rectify the entire ill’s of the society but yet up till this minute all we hear from him is rhetoric. He should please stop traveling all over the world and concentrate on the domestic economy rather than expecting foreign investors to come to our rescue. Recently I have read some articles written by some Nigerians notable among these were those written by Mr L Sanusi and Mr Awosika –Coker, while the writers seemed quite knowledgeable they reflected the malaise that troubles the Nigerian society today. Each doing his best to denigrate the other’s views religion and "Tribe" sorry Mr Awosika. Here you see well read men justifying and making cases for issues that bordered from absurd to obviously silly. In Mr Sanusi’s article he stated that when the crime rate in Saudi Arabia is compared to that of Lagos the difference becomes quite obvious. This he attributed to Sharia, what he failed to mention was the fact that the poverty level in Lagos/ Nigeria was a lot higher than that in Saudi Arabia. If he believes that Sharia is so good, I dare him to come to Edgware Road in London and see for himself how many men of Saudi origin and Nationality who fornicate and drink on a regular basis. Two of the most corrupt leaders Nigeria has ever witnessed IBB and Abacha are Muslim’s, so his assertion that Sharia makes better people is completely absurd, silly and ignorant. While I do feel that people should practise their religion the way, it should be done in a legal manner and this should not infringe on the rights of others. Thus if Moslems in the North want to practise Sharia they should do so in the privacy of their own homes and not impose this on the Christians and other Religious groups that exist there. If the punishment for stealing is amputation of the limb then that is for those who convert to the faith will have to put up with. I have no problems with this unless the limbs of a Christian is amputated for stealing, irrespective of his stealing in the North ( Shariah Operating States)or from a Muslim. If indigenes from these places are happy with such practises then so be it. That said, I find it quite sad that Mr Awosika – Coker has taken it upon himself to denigrate the Islamic faith and call them "Barbaric". First I would like to know what his religion is, to which I would hazard a guess and say Christianity . Thus prompting me to ask . is this religion more civilised and what is this assumption based on. For a man who is in conflict with Western imperialism, why does he not believe in one of the many Yoruba faiths. Pardon my ignorance I am sure that the Yoruba’s practised their religion before the coming of the missionaries . As a proud Yoruba man you should be able to say you believe in one of them. If this is not the case do you consider these faiths Barbaric and the last question is who decides what is Barbaric. Westerner’s , Islamic Scholars or the prevailing culture of the day existing within that environment. I might not have read as many books as you guys and my writing style might not be as flowing as you guys but please let us use some common sense and decency here. Let’s stop all this name calling and ego trips, so we can concentrate on the real challenge ahead of us which is fighting corruption and education our population on the beauty and benefit of living as one in peace and harmony. Until this happens I promise Nigeria will not know peace. I am not one to invoke the name of God for all the evils of society but I do pray that one day we shall be able to live as one unified country, practising our religion, culture or lifestyle the way we see fit. Mr. Agege wrote in from London, UK
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